Let's talk about Trump getting one right on housing, maybe. - Belle of the Ranch

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about Trump getting one right. Maybe.

Trump made an announcement and it definitely perked ears while raising eyebrows and questions. Here's one. Did Trump just broken clock us? This thing about housing, will it really help homeowners? It doesn't actually sound like a bad idea. It isn't a horrible idea, but the devil is in the details on this one, and I'm skeptical of his ability to get this one right. To be honest, I'm skeptical of his desire to do this, but I'll suspend disbelief for a minute.

So, what did he say? Well, he rambled about how everything was Biden's fault, even though it's a multifaceted problem and it started decades before, then said the "American dream is increasingly out of reach for far too many people, especially younger Americans. It is for that reason and much more that I am immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single family homes. And I will be calling on Congress to codify it. People live in homes, not corporations. I will discuss this topic, including further housing and affordability proposals and more at my speech in Davos in two weeks.”

Okay, so the actual question here is will it really help homeowners? No. In fact, it might hurt them a little bit, but if done right, it could significantly help home buyers. If this was done right and it actually worked, homeowners would lose equity, home sellers would lose money, but home buyers would get a better deal. It doesn't address the whole issue when it comes to home affordability. Not even close, but it doesn't make it worse and would actually help drop the cost. But details, details, details.

He said, “ban large institutional investors.” Define that. Companies of what size? How many properties can they own? Can an institutional investor invest in small companies that are just below the threshold of the definition? Can they own those smaller companies outright? This is very much a Goldilocks thing. Make the regulations too loose and it literally does nothing. Make them too tight and it kills real estate in general.

Too loose and the Darkstone Corporation simply buys smaller companies that aren't part of the definition that are out buying housings. Congrats, you simply added another layer of paperwork and shielding. Make it too tight and companies that buy and renovate houses are shut down overnight. Once it's all charted, this could help, but it won't turn the tide. and it isn't a solution in and of itself.

But I do want to point out one thing. Trump said, "I will discuss this topic, including further housing and affordability proposals and more at my speech in Davos in 2 weeks. I'm incredibly skeptical that anything tangible will come of anything Trump says he'll have in 2 weeks. We're still waiting on a health care plan, tax returns, and so on.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.